On June 26, 2015, the employee’s attorney petitioned the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) for taxation of costs and disbursements in the amount of $517.00 related to an appeal before this court in February 2014.  Having determined that the petition was untimely pursuant to Minn. R. 9800.1700, we deny the petition for taxation of costs and disbursements on appeal.

On May 22, 2013, JPS Lawn Service and Farmers Insurance Group, the employer and insurer, filed a petition to discontinue benefits seeking a credit for temporary total disability benefits paid between April 2 and May 1, 2013.  After a hearing on August 7, 2013, a compensation judge allowed the credit requested in a Findings and Order served and filed August 26, 2013.  James Beekman, the employee, appealed that decision, and this court reversed the credit award in a decision served and filed February 18, 2014.  Our decision was not appealed.  The court also awarded the appellant’s attorney fees of $1,250.00.

On March 19, 2015, the employee’s attorney filed a statement of attorney fees at the Department of Labor and Industry, Workers’ Compensation Division, claiming attorney fees for representation at several administrative conferences and the hearing, as well as costs of $517.00 related to the appeal resolved by the February 18, 2014, decision from the WCCA.  A compensation judge awarded the claimed fees, but did not award costs claimed for the appeal on the basis that the issue of appellate costs was beyond her authority.  On June 26, 2015, the employee’s attorney filed his statement of attorney fees with the WCCA requesting taxation of costs and disbursements from the February 18, 2014, appeal.  The employer and insurer objected to the request on July 1, 2015.

The right to recover costs on appeal exists by reason of statutory authority.^[1]  The applicable statute governing costs on appeal with the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals is Minn. Stat. § 176.511, which provides in part:

The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals prescribes rules of practice before it in appellate matters.^[4]  The court may tax actual and necessary costs and disbursements, as allowed by Minn. Stat. § 176.511.  Parties shall comply with the procedure in Minn. R. 9800.1400, except that petitions under Minn. R. 9800.1700 must be filed within 45 days of the filing of the final appellate decision in the main action.

The employer and insurer maintain that the petition seeking taxation of costs and disbursements for the 2014 appeal is untimely.  The employee argues that any delay in filing did not prejudice the employer and insurer, citing Nolan v. Sidal Realty Co.^[5]

In Kvenvold v. Freeborn County Sheriff’s Dep’t, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, and held that a petition for the taxation of disbursements 21 months after the final appellate decision “clearly went well beyond the bounds set by the rule.”^[6]

In this case, the filing of Mr. Beekman’s petition for the taxation of disbursements 16 months after the final appellate decision served and filed February 18, 2014, is untimely.  Accordingly, the petition is denied.